Omid’s eyes fought to stay locked on Sareen’s. There was a fear that the moment he slipped and shifted his pupils even the slightest amount from being completely locked onto hers then all manner of horrible things would happen. He had to keep his eyes focused. He couldn’t look away. He couldn’t even blink. To blink was to give her a chance. A chance to do something to him in the quite literal blink of an eye. Perhaps it was even a signal of submission. Equal to giving her his name?
As much as he shook in place, as much as his hands trembled, as much as he felt his blood turn colder than any mountain winds, he kept his eyes on her. His mind raced with a thousand thoughts and possibilities. Less plans to make it out alive, and more so plans to survive the next moment. All of them starting with don’t move, and don’t blink.
Sareen continued smiling and blinked.
Every single last one of Omid’s grand plans burst into flames as he now tried to figure out what that meant. She blinked first. Perhaps it meant that she did not see him as a threat? That she was completely unphased by him and there was nothing he could do that would actually matter so he should just do whatever he wished at this point? No, he still needed to think about this carefully. One wrong move and he would end up like Taljir.
Sareen’s smile shrank the tiniest bit as she tilted her head. “Are you not well?” She asked with what seemed to be genuine...confusion? Concern?
No, none of those sounded right.
Which was about the only thought Omid was capable of processing at the moment. All of his panic and fear shifted and slouched and fell over onto its side while desperately grasping at nothing and trying to right itself into a far more understandable terror. The culprit that stepped in to take its place was confusion.
“Y-yu-” Omid’s lips tried to form words and failed to produce more than a single syllable. He decided to chance it and shut his eyes before bringing his hands up to rub at them.
His hands were, of course, still trembling. His blood still ran so cold as to make him almost forget for a moment that he was in the middle of a searing desert. And all of this was hitting him at once as he was having a surreal moment of realization at every sensation currently striking him now.
The slight whistling of wind across the dunes, the shifting of sand, the heat trying to drain him of life, the suns still high in the sky beating down upon the two of them, the strange ‘woman’ standing before him now and every single one of her features. Beauty that he tried to deny in the face of the terror she brought. Fine clothes with ornate patterns he could now discern while all too close to her. What looked to be an expensive blade hidden in a fine leather sheath. An expression that still sought an answer that he should really respond to already.
“Is something the matter?” Sareen asked again, with what Omid refused to acknowledge as something even so much as resembling concern.
“You killed him.” The words slipped from Omid’s mouth before his mind realized what was happening. He didn’t accuse, nor did he rage. It was a simple statement without emotion brought on by a mind not fully functioning anymore.
Sareen tilted her head from left to right, a bit more of her smile shrinking as her brows pressed together. “Who?”
Omid internally fought off the urge to scream at the woman as outwardly his mouth fell open while he tried to come up with an answer that would not get him killed. He covered his moment of shock with coughing into his hand, then set about metaphorically walking blind and barefoot across a food covered in broken glass.
“Taljir, the one who was so desperate for the oasis? The one who was just turned into sand?” Omid chanced looking slightly away from the very center of her pupils, unable to completely meet her eyes anymore as he quite possibly sealed his fate.
Sareen’s eyes narrowed for a moment before realization hit her. “Oh! Him!” She exclaimed shortly before giving a light laugh that made Omid waver slightly and take a step back. “Even when I know you’re interesting you still manage to surprise me. You are quite humorous!”
There were far too many questions that that sentence raised, and much too many implications for Omid to deal with right now. He opted to clench his jaw together while smiling and nodding as confusion and horror fought for dominance within his mind.
Sareen gave a broad smile and reached a hand out with her palm to the sky. She made a beckoning gesture, as Omid’s eyes snapped down to her hand in confusion. Briefly he wondered if he was meant to take her hand, but before he could think of how poor an idea that might be she started to hum. And whisper. And speak. It was the language of magic as he had never heard it before. There was a melodic quality to it that Omid could only describe as beautiful, even as he watched her beckon a wisp of sand to rise from the ground and begin coalescing in her hand.
At first it simply swirled about in her palm like a miniscule sand storm before consolidating into a small clear glass figure in the shape of a man. Omid stared at the display in reticent wonder before his eyes went wide as realization and recognition both hit him in tandem.
It looked just like Taljir. The details were fittingly nothing short of supernatural, far beyond the skill of any craftsman’s work he had ever seen. But it was Taljir. Sareen gave a slight wave of her finger and the last bit of swirling sand joined the rest of the small glass figure as a small hollow within it began to fill with a red liquid. Upon closer inspection, Omid was almost certain that it was blood.
At that moment he realized how much he had been leaning in to witness the feat, quickly standing up straight as he once again met Sareen’s eyes and found her wearing an amused smile.
“See? Not dead at all.” She said in a reassuring tone while holding the figure up in her delicate grasp for Omid to inspect before placing it in a small leather pouch upon her belt.
“Yes...I...see that now.” Omid caught himself trying to turn that into a question, only barely managing to stop a deluge of that and further questions. He forced a smile as he felt that this was likely something of an act done for him.
Though if she was being anything approaching truthful, it meant that Taljir was now in her possession. Which meant he had to first figure out a way of retrieving him from Sareen.
“You mentioned that you were a messenger, correct? Perhaps I could accompany you?” Omid figured that going with her served the dual purpose of giving him time to figure out how to get a cursed Taljir out of what was almost certainly a Kirzallan’s clutches while also not leading said Kirzallan back to the caravan. He was also guessing his way through survival at this point.
Sareen’s smile grew larger until he could see her teeth in a shade of white just west of normal. “What a delightful idea! They shall no doubt find you amusing as well!”
“They no doubt will!” Omid said with a forced toothy smile and barely hidden pain in his voice as he promised himself to panic and die of dread later at figuring out who ‘they’ were.
It was a small grace for Omid that she quickly turned on her heels with the slightest flourish, giving him a chance to contort his face into an agony filled silent scream. Only for the briefest moment as he began to follow behind Sareen to where the camels now sat. However, as Omid figured that this might be the last time in a long time that he could freely show emotion he made it count.
All before pulling his scarf back over his nose, thankful for even the tiniest bit of cloth to help hide the pain and fear.
Sareen quickly and effortlessly climbed atop her own camel as Omid was faced with the grim necessity of tying Nazer to Masel. He had to act fast, and was already thankful for the scarf helping to hide his face as he reworked Nazer’s reigns into a lead and attached it to Masel’s saddle. Nazer complained, but that he refrained from doing so at full volume led Omid to believe the camel seemed to sense a bit of his pain. Or perhaps he was merely confused as to why his rider was gone.
Omid’s eyes hung low as he pet at Nazer’s neck and reassured him that things would be alright as he tried to convince himself that there was even the slightest hope of that being true eventually. He gave a handful of date pits to the beast for good measure while noting his own complete and utter lack of appetite presently. Perhaps a lack of appetite as brought on by overwhelming anxiety and terror would help stretch his remaining rations until...something.
He froze in place as he finished tying the lead to Masel’s saddle, and again Omid was promising to worry about certain details of his ‘plan’ later. His rations may have technically doubled but he had no idea how long it would be until he could find food and water that he could trust to not turn him into a small artisanal craft.
This whole thing might be for nothing if he did manage to get Taljir back and they both starved or died of thirst in the middle of The Great Desert. Omid dismissed the thought attempting to overwhelm him and give up then and there. Too many things could happen between now and then to surrender to despair. It was technically better odds, and that technically meant he wasn’t a complete idiot for trying what he was about to try.
Even if he wasn’t entirely certain what he was about to try.
“I wouldn’t want to let a good camel go to waste.” Omid said, heading off the likely inquiry. Turning around he found that Sareen had apparently been observing him the whole time. He silenced the voice in his head shouting that that had been true for likely days now.
Sareen simply nodded with the smallest of smiles before affixing her own scarf and commanding her camel to rise. A camel that aside from being particularly well groomed appeared vexingly normal.
Omid set it upon the mountain of questions that he may or may not delve into later as he climbed atop Masel, rising and staring off into the clear blue skies. It was still mid day, judging by the position of the suns.
“I suppose we made quite good time getting to the oasis. You first estimated it would take us a few hours.” Omid treaded carefully, but chanced demonstrating his observational skills.
Sareen chuckled as she held a hand up to her mouth, and in the same motion reached out an open hand to the oasis that Omid had made a point avoiding the sight of. She sang but a single word of magic, and with a flick of her hand the entire oasis collapsed into sand. Every single last plant tempting Omid with a meal, every gentle ripple of water promising refreshment, and every single delusion of this being in any way easy all collapsed upon its own weight until there was nought but a gust of sand now being carried away by the breeze. Omid could only stare at the spectacle, lamenting what could have been but never would be. In its place, there was only what must be.
“You seemed to be a good navigator in making such good time, perhaps you should lead us to our destination?” She asked as she turned back to Omid, her eyes showing that she bore a smile under that scarf.
Omid bowed his head, trying to parry the verbal blades in play. “Alas, I don’t know where it is I am accompanying you to. Also, you led Taljir to the oasis so really it is your own navigational skills that are unmatched.”
“You are of course correct.” Sareen stated with salient delight. “But you don’t know where you are going yet you very much desire to go there?”
Omid gulped as the verbal sword fight sliced a bit too close for comfort. Simply stating that his goal was not a possibility. At least, not stating one of his goals. The one he would freely admit to himself. Another goal made him curse himself for even thinking of it.
“The unknown sounds quite interesting to me.” He said while surprising himself with his own veracity. “With one such as yourself, I believe things would always be exceptionally exciting.” Omid stated while leaving out that exciting could be a very bad thing.
Sareen narrowed her eyes as she studied the young man until she saw him shift ever so slightly in his saddle before speaking in a tone more staid than he was becoming used to with her. “And you seem to know enough about me to make such a judgment. Tell me Omid, what do you believe me to be that promises such an interesting journey?”
“You are Sareen, of course.” Omid said as he forced a smile, hoping it would be apparent enough in his dark eyes despite a scarf in the way. A memory rattled around in his head of supernatural beings not liking the names that humans had for them.
The young woman’s searching gaze broke in an instant as her brow arched. Indigo eyes searched for sense, and after finding only Omid she once again broke and gave a short chuckle. Followed shortly by sustained hearty laughter as she wrapped an arm around her stomach and tried to not fall out of her saddle.
Omid strained out a chuckle as he looked about uneasily. He thought to himself that this had to be a good sign and not at all a bad sign. This was not a sign of imminent peril, he told himself as he uneasily laughed in the most stilted manner possible. Which is why he was taking the distraction provided by Sareen being doubled over in laughter at his terrible, horrible attempt at what some could charitably call humor to look around for anything at all he could use to his advantage.
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He saw sand.
Some of that sand had previously been an exceedingly ostentatious oasis. Some of it had previously been Taljir.
Omid laughed a bit harder now, clutching at Masel’s reigns so hard that the bones of his hand threatened to burst through the skin of his knuckles. He was absolutely going to die and it was going to be even worse than what had happened to Taljir.
Sareen was laughing so hard and for so long now that she was in tears.
Omid was starting to shed his own tears as he laughed at how they were both no doubt imagining the same thing: how painfully Omid was going to die.
Sareen finally managed to contain her own laughter as she readjusted her scarf while using it to dab at some tears. She blinked away some final tears, and indigo eyes looked over to a still laughing Omid. “As expected, I was right about you!”
“....yes?” Omid too stopped laughing, mostly due to fear finally winning over terror based laughter.
“Come along then.” Sareen said while still chuckling, pulling on her camel’s reigns and leaving a bewildered Omid to follow.
Follow Omid did, though he was starting to lose track of why he was following. Was it because he was attempting to get Taljir back? Was it out of a near suicidal interest in all things magical and supernatural? Or perhaps it was a lamb knowingly accepting its fate as it heads off to a slaughter so that it may at least not die tired?
At some point, Omid finally loosened his grip on Masel’s reigns. He had been staring straight ahead at Sareen, and had completely lost track of time. Quickly looking around, Omid surmised it couldn’t have been too long. The scenery was the same endless dunes that he had grown far too familiar with, and the suns had moved across the sky only enough to move the day into the later afternoon.
Suddenly aware again, and with little else to do as he followed, he studied Sareen as though she were liable to turn around and flay him alive in one motion. Though she did no such thing. Though some time after returning to lucidity, Omid observed her extending a hand towards a random dune and begin a short chant as he saw the dune flatten into the desert. Still, she did not look back to him or acknowledge this action in any way.
This occurred several more times, with only slight variations. Conjuring a dune from a flat expanse, growing a dune, shrinking a dune, shifting it slightly to the side, turning one into a gathering of rocks, and even turning rocks to sand.
Omid dared not interrupt her ministrations as he followed along. He attempted to make sense of it, to find a pattern but the effort was for nought. It was better than thinking on what lay ahead for him. The thought kept popping up in his head that this was all an elaborate ritual of some sort. That he was being led to his death, or at least effective death in a manner similar to Taljir. Throughout the day, he would look away from Sareen to scan around for anything that could possibly...do something. Omid was still uncertain what he was looking for, or what purpose he hoped it would serve.
Still, there was nothing but sand and rocks. All seemingly subject to existence or a lack thereof by Sareen’s will.
As the suns approached the horizon, Omid finally saw that something different he had been hoping for. Far at the horizon, peeking out over a vast dune was the very top of a mountain. The distant stone monument was a dusty orange hue, instantly distinct from the surrounding endless tan desert sand.
And just as he glimpsed a blessed change of scenery, Sareen stopped. Omid quickly brought the camel’s to a halt as she commanded her own down so that she may dismount.
“It is getting late, and you will require rest will you not?” She said, asking for confirmation on what could apparently be up for questioning.
Omid tore his eyes away from the mountain with the slightest of sighs and began to dismount his own camel. “I will.”
As soon as the words left his lips, she began a chant he was starting to become familiar with as an angular stone structure burst forth from the sands. Omid stumbled and fell back onto the sand as his two camels brayed their complaints before he quickly calmed them. Turning back around, he found Sareen standing before two large wooden doors that opened into what appeared to be a small stable.
Sareen guided her own camel in, pausing as she looked back expectantly to a still dazed Omid. He was gripping the reins too tight again as his hands protested the discomfort. This was almost certainly a trap.
“I...I would hate to impose…” Omid offered while his eyes darted over the structure. The more he looked the more it appeared to be a small house with attached stable, though of a design that was completely foreign to him.
“I insist.” She offered with a newly revealed smile and sparkling indigo eyes as she pulled her scarf down.
Omid looked over the stone building one final time, imagining that the large doors were entryways to the afterlife. And he was being dragged kicking and screaming through them.
He opted to simply walk forward without another word, leading the camels as he went. Words could be used against him, so he would offer no words when he could. It was not much, but the running theory was one of the few things he had right now. Even if this reasoning existed solely in his head, it gave him some measure of comfort.
The structure was a slightly darker tan than the rest of the desert, and within there were two stalls seemingly reserved for Masel and Nazer. Omid couldn’t help but marvel at the architecture as he led them in and got the two situated for the night, spending an extra moment to pet them both in reassurance. All the walls were too perfect. Even ‘perfect’ somehow didn’t capture it, for everything was flawless. Every single surface was perfectly flat and as smooth as finely polished marble, only lacking the shine that would be associated with it.
Omid idly reached out a hand to feel at the walls, confirming what his eyes had suspected as he felt not a single wayward patch of rough surface. The corners all had a clipped look to them, most likely intentional as he suspected otherwise they would be so sharp as to be a hazard. He hefted a pack of rations and met Sareen at the entrance. With a slight wave of her hand the doors closed behind him and he looked back at it, observing that even the grain of the wood was too perfect.
“Your craftsmanship is flawless.” He stated, completely unsure if he meant it fully as a compliment. It was flawless to the point of seeming wrong, like a thing that could not be.
Sareen simply smiled in response, gesturing for him to follow as she walked around the side of the structure to a smaller door that appeared to be the main entrance. The door swung open by some unseen force, and Sareen stood to the side as she stood there expectantly.
Omid’s mind once again raced for a solution, and found one that kept in line with something he had read of the customs of various supernatural beings.
“Do you prefer guests to remove their shoes upon entering?” Omid asked, setting his plan into motion.
Sareen kept her smile as a small spark of amusement danced across her eyes. “I have provided slippers for those who would.”
Omid gave a nod, daring to enter the building and finding a small ground level entryway to keep sand from filtering into the main room that was one step higher. Off to the side of this small lowered area were indeed a pair of fine silken slippers that looked suspiciously as though they would perfectly fit Omid. As he reached down to begin taking off his rough leather boots, his hand bumped into the short sword at his hip.
Another thought as to very particular customs and manners occurred to Omid, as he briefly searched before finding a small wooden stand near the door. He quickly removed his sword, bow, and small quiver of arrows and set them down before returning to taking his shoes off. His plan was to, in as polite a way as possible, force himself to be viewed as a guest no matter what she currently saw him as. To that end he was aware many had a custom of removing one’s shoes upon entering a house. Some clever wording and he was politely learning Sareen’s own outlook on such customs while being able to confirm himself a guest. And as a guest, he would have no need of weapons within her house.
As he removed his scarf and freed his braids, he bore a smile that would no doubt be far more confident if he himself was fully confident that he was not merely convincing himself of such things before his own truly tragic death. The alternative is that he was going to be the main course for dinner.
The sound of a door shutting drew his attention, as he watched Sareen set down her own weapons and replace her boots with house slippers. Omid took this as confirmation that he had performed the correct actions, or she was humoring him before slaughtering him. Opting for the former, he looked around the small ‘house’ and immediately noted its idiosyncrasies.
The only window was a large circular skylight letting in the last gasp of day. The walls were all the same make as those of the stable and the structure as a whole, and remained off putting. Small glass lanterns attached to each of the walls cast a pale white glow throughout the room. Though the room was medium sized, the only feature aside from the entryway was a single table and trio of chairs made of the same ‘wood’ as the doors and weapon stand. All of which sat upon an ornate carpet centered in the room, bearing labyrinthine designs in the stark blacks and vibrant yellows.
Omid tried to ignore the eerie shadows the pale lights cast from the table, and made a show of looking around the room in wonder. It was not entirely a show, as he was indeed wondering if this was some manner of test or this was really her preferred aesthetic design.
“You brought your own meal?” Sareen inquired as she stepped before him.
Omid nodded, holding the satchel and water skin up. “Only right for a guest to bring something for his host. Would you care to partake in dates and water?” No sooner than the words left his mouth he could swear that he could hear Taljir cackling in his head at the absurdity of this grand meal he was presenting.Sareen shook her head, but gestured to the table. “Thank you for the offer but I have no need tonight. Please, sit.”
More questions. All of them for later. A later that was looking more and more likely to never come. Omid clenched his jaw, wincing slightly and took a seat at one of the three chairs, setting his belongings on the table as he looked back to Sareen for some amount of confirmation. Her expression didn’t change as she took a seat at the closer of the remaining two chairs. She tented her fingers together as she looked at Omid expectantly.
Omid blinked as a drop of sweat ran down his temple, slowly reaching to open his satchel and retrieve a few dates.
Sareen continued watching, completely unmoving aside from her eyes that followed every movement Omid took.
Had he always been self conscious about people watching him eat? He didn’t recall it, but trying to remember much of anything was difficult when someone was watching every single bite you took and every sip of water go down your throat. Where exactly was he supposed to look? At his food?
He tried that, taking a bite of a date and slowly chewing.
No, no this wasn’t right he felt like he was just ignoring her.
He next tried looking to Sareen, and found her staring him down as he froze mid-bite. Indigo eyes bored holes right through him as her expression never once wavered. Omid didn’t blink, and he may have forgotten how. A voice rang out in his head to keep chewing, as a normal person does when eating food. He hazarded a bite, and still her gaze never wavered. In an ill advised attempt to end this faster, he just swallowed the poorly chewed bite.
She kept staring as he coughed slightly from not chewing enough, not even blinking.
This was also not right.
Omid blinked, taking the tiniest moment to look straight ahead instead while taking another date and popping the whole thing into his mouth to chew and get this torturous ordeal over with faster. He felt her gaze still on him as he stared at an empty chair. Was...was that for Taljir? If she made this all in an instant, why would she make a seat for him?
She was still staring, was it proper to make conversation over a meal in her culture? She wasn’t saying anything. Wasn’t blinking. Was she even breathing? Had he been meant to talk first and now this was the saddest final meal in all of history? He decided to cram a few more dates into his mouth and quickly chew through them as he looked around the room, finding it easier to keep his gaze moving instead of fixed on one spot.
Even if the room was near featureless.
And only one door.
Where exactly was he supposed to sleep?
Omid gulped down a bit of water before standing with an exaggerated stretch and a yawn. “Well that was a wonderful meal, though now I should rest.”
Sareen stood with a nod, pushed her chair in and gestured to the singular door in the room. “You may leave your bags on the table.”
Omid gave the tiniest frown as he looked to the door. So this was the fate she would deal to him. A final meal and naught but the clothes on his back as he’s offered a chance to escape. In the middle of The Great Desert, at night. He sighed, gritting his teeth as he watched her walk over to the door and open it to reveal another smaller room.
He craned his head about as he approached the door that he distinctly remembered leading outside. Omid took careful steps closer, as Sareen showed something resembling concern.
“You must be very tired indeed.” She stated.
“Er...yes?” Omid looked around the room before looking back to the door, confirming that it was indeed the only door in the ‘house’.
Exasperation won out as he strode through the door into the smaller room, finding the warm orange glow of the lanterns in here far more comforting. A small bed with fine linen sheets awaited him, as well as a chair opposite of it. Running his hands over the cloth confirmed that it was easily the most luxurious sheets he had ever felt, no doubt worth a fortune. Omid took a seat upon the bed, kicking off the slippers as Sareen shut the door and took a set on the chair across from the bed.
She clasped her hands together in her lap as she sat, once again staring at Omid.
Omid kept his eyes locked with her as the creeping realization set in. He ever so slowly pulled the sheets back and shimmied in, lamenting how he couldn’t feel the fabric on more of his skin. His dark eyes remained locked with her piercing indigos as he laid down.
“The er...the lights.” He started before she gave a wave and they slowly dimmed. Still she kept her eyes on him until the last bit of light faded into nothingness, and the purest black of a room without windows set in.
And still he could feel her staring at him. Sitting next to the only door in the room, which might very well be the only door in the house that led to many rooms.
“Sleep well.” She lightly called out in the pure darkness.
“Y-you too.” Omid responded.
“I don’t need to.” She stated plainly.
Omid silently wondered if Taljir was the lucky one.